A new find with some really great lessons in photography
Posts Tagged ‘Photography’
Tips For Better Photography
General Tips
1. Make time to take photos. Like all other hobbies
2. Make time for practice. Practice your settings
3. Enjoy what you do.
4. Start with the basics and work upwards.
5. Don’t get flustered, we all start at the beginning and move on.
The Camera
1. Buy the best you can afford, upgrade when you get frustrated.
2. Check all your gear before you go out. Inc. Batteries cards, etc.
3. Use a tripod if necessary.
4. Use a remote control even use “mirror up”, option.
5. SLR’s use the correct lens. No 1 lens fits all occasions
6. Compact users push your camera to its absolute limits, then upgrade.
7. Remember, “if a photo is worth taking, it is worth taking properly”!!
Taking the Photo
1. Plan your photo shoot.
2. Check out the venue, lighting, organize people in coloured clothing etc.
3. Get them to put on special makeup, use props if available.
4. For landscape, check the scene several times if possible.
5. Check the light, time of day, time of year, angles to shoot, composition.
6. Make notes for future reference in a book.
7. Take indoor shots, set up lighting, tripods back drops, use torches etc.
8. Use props, plants, lounge, chairs, reflectors etc, even when going outdoors; take them with you. All part of your planning.
9. For flowers, make notes on what flowers where and when, shoot in good light, use a spray bottle for water droplets, check the background when shooting, check composition.
10. For things like waterfalls, snow scenes, you will need to chose your time of year. NO point thinking the water will be flowing in late Feb after a hot summer.
11. Plan your trips with photos in mind but have a balance between family and photos.
Using your gear
1. Use what you have now, when you absolutely can no longer work without an upgrade, then its time to upgrade.
2. Read the manual and learn about your gear.
3. Ask questions if in doubt, at meetings or on line.
4. Use the auto program modes to start with, at least you are telling the camera something.
5. Practice with semi manual modes like AV. SP/TV. Or full manual and go back to auto programs when you need to. Work your way to not being dependant on auto modes.
6. Check what other gear there is to do a certain job. IE macro extension tubes, external flashes mono pods etc etc.
Before taking a photo
1. Choose your picture for a reason and do a test composition shot.
2. Check the background for distractions.
3. Choose the best settings for your camera for what you are about to shoot
4. Do a meter reading by pressing the shutter half way and CHECK THE SHUTTER SPEED!!! If it is too slow and you are going to get blur increase shutter speed.
5. Use a tripod, Remember, “if the shot is worth taking it is worth taking Properly” Take your time.
6. After taking the shot check the details, check histogram, zoom in and check sharpness.
7. Reshoot if necessary with adjusted camera settings.
8. Try different angles, higher or lower, move left or right not always the first way you saw it. Is there a stronger shot to be had?
9. If sky is included check sky exposure, under expose by 1-3/3rd stops or over expose if it is in shady areas.
10. Use filters if you have them
11. Set your camera to RAW if you want to do all the processing later
12. Or to Jpg if you want the camera to process the image for you.
13. Learn the different processing settings and learn which ones to use when.
14. Carry a little note book and make notes, don’t try to remember everything. It will come automatically as you get more practice and experience.
Post processing
1. Use the program you are most comfortable with at the level you are now
2. PS is not for everyone at first but make it your goal to get there in a year or two ahead.
3. Preview your photos on the card first in something like Faststone.
4. Delete the obvious duds. Check twice.
5. Do a test crop and see if you can get a stronger photo with a closer crop or a 10×4 crop.
6. Once you are happy you want to save, copy the rest to your hard drive storage area. Use a system so you can find your pictures when you need them. I use All pics/year/month/event.
7. Plan what you want to do with your photos. Print for display, make a slide show, digital photo albums, photo frames, print comps, for family etc.
8. What you do with your photos will be your motivation to continue shooting and learning and improving.
9. Open each photo you want to edit. Look for a crop first. Can you remove unwanted area with a crop. Can you concentrate more on the subject matter with a crop.
10. Check your levels/histogram and adjust
11. Look for bits to clone out, sensor dust etc and clone
12. Check and straighten horizons
13. Adjust contrast/saturation/ shadow and highlights etc as you know how and needs require.
14. Resize to your needs, print, web etc.
15. Finally sharpen before saving edited image.
Finally
Display your work somewhere somehow. This will be your motivation to continue to learn and improve. You will later be able to look back and see how you have improved. Think about internet albums, forums, slideshows, photo frames, print and frame work and hang in the house, prints for presents for family and friends, club assignments, print competitions, printing on T shirts, calendars, plates books etc etc. Just have a go, be happy with the level you are at and work to improving, none of us are perfect and all have a road ahead of us yet. Lastly help out others on the same road, you will be amazed what you have learnt and have to share.
keywords: Photography
8 Tips for Shooting Panoramas « compose.click.edit
Panoramic photos offers a unique perspective to your photos, and is one that can easily be acheived in this digital age with tools such as Adobe Photoshop. Although Photoshop does a lot of the work for you, you do have to pay careful attention to the shots you take out in the field as this has a dramatic impact on how well the computer stitches together. Thankfully, ComposeClickEdit has prepared a nice list of quick tips that will help you produce some stunning results.
1. Shoot Vertically
If you shoot vertically, your panoramic photos will gain a vertical depth that you wouldn’t otherwise have. It also provides you with more flexibility when it comes to cropping the end result.
2. Overlap by 25%
To ensure that Photoshop (or the ’stitching’ software of your choice) correctly stitches the image together, overlap each shot by 25%. Most people say 15% or 20% would suffice but to be on the safe side, use 25%.
3. Organize
I have lost count of how many times I have shot something with the intent of stitching it into a panormaic photo later, and then when I opened up Lightroom, I couldn’t distinguish whether or not it was supposed to be a panorama. However after reading Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography Books, I learnt of a useful tip. By putting your thumb (or finger) in front of the camera before and after you’ve finished taking your shot, you can easily tell which images are to be used later on as panoramas. This is so much easier when it comes to post-processing the image.
4. Avoid Movement
Avoid movement & place people towards the center.
Movement often causes problems when shooting panoramas. The blur of cars or other fast moving objects confuses the stitching software and leads to major inaccuracies in the final result. Also, people can often appear as ‘ghosts’ in shots so be careful to keep them in the center of the frame.
5. Maintain Exposure.
A properly exposed photograph is an attribute of all good photographs. A panoramic photo is no different. Exposure does present some extra difficulties with panoramas as the camera sometimes changes the exposure setting on each shot you take. To avoid this, set your camera to Manual mode and then choose a good exposure for the majority of the shot.
6. Experiment
Don’t just stick to the obvious. You can achieve some interesting effects by creating vertical panoramas as well as the traditional horizontal ones.
7. Keep Steady and Align
Referencing the shot in #3, you will notice that the beach doesn’t always align correctly with that of the adjoining shots. Whilst this isn’t a major problem (Photoshop does a good job of aligning the various shots), it does limit the amount of oppurtunities for cropping later on as there is less vertical space to play with, so be sure you do the best you can out in the field.
8. Panoramic Mode – Use It!
Most point-and-shoot cameras have a ‘panoramic‘ mode which assits you in overlapping and aligning shots. This is a must-use if you are a point-and-shooter; if your eye and the camera can line the shots up correctly then the final shot is going to be perfect with the additional assistance of Photoshop.
8 Tips for Shooting Panoramas « compose.click.edit
keywords: Photography
